Early Voting Observations

Are you inclined to follow an urge and make spur of the moment decisions? Or, are you a planner to the point of boring?

This writer does both. If the decision involves other people and an event in the future, then she tends to plan. One can always alter a plan of action, but sometimes having nothing but a nebulous idea floating on the edges of your mind can cause stress.

Since this lady has enough built-in stress to rival an army of worrywarts, it is second nature for her to have at least an idea of how things should happen. Having said that, it is not only liberating but also fun to jump in when an opportunity beckons.

For the most part, Hubby liked to go with the flow. No calendar or event planner controlled his, or our lives. Some of the most significant decisions he made were spontaneous, and often while wearing his well-worn and comfortable blue jeans.

It is quite likely during their years together some of Hubby’s tendency to make spur of the moment decisions rubbed off on his wife.

Driving home from the gym, the sign for early voting caught her eye. It took a couple of minutes to check her credentials and then she cast her ballot.

Then, on a whim, she asked the election judge what the process was for volunteering to work elections. “All you have to do is sign up and attend a couple of classes,” the judge said.

That evening the election judge called. “Can you work the next four days? One of my workes will be out.”

“I can, but what about the classes?”

“Hands-on training works the best.”

The election judge was right. The election clerk’s duties were easy to learn. After all, the process of checking people in to vote is not rocket science.

Have you noticed people who work elections are bordering on ancient? The reason is simple. Retired people are the only ones who have the inclination and the time to sit for 12 hours a day during an election. In the case of this writer, it was a combination of whim and curiosity.

Since most of the workers knew many of the voters, chitchatting with voters was a constant issue. The result was a frequent stumble in the flow of traffic. Did anyone within earshot need to know about one worker’s open-heart surgery or hip replacement or other ailments of several voters? Instead of waiting until the voter cast his or her ballot, such conversations went on as the voter was checked in.

The election workers knew nearly every voter and vice versa. Many voters had the same last name or maiden name. “Everybody is related to each other,” this writer remarked. One of the workers nodded and laughed, “There are a couple of families who married first cousins.”

One eager young voter arrived wearing a candidate’s name on his T-shirt and was asked to go outside and turn the shirt inside out.

Some parents brought their children and used the election as a civics lesson. Sometimes they allowed the children to cast votes, which brought several reprimands from the election judge.

Several elderly voters with Alzheimer’s or dementia had relatives to assist them in voting. If a person needs a nudge to remind them who to vote for, in essence, the helper is voting twice. A mother arrived with her high functioning autistic son. They checked in, then the mother took out a piece of paper and wrote down his voting list.

“What are you planning to do tonight?” a fellow worker asked.

“A glass of wine is calling my name.”

The next day, we had to arrive at 6:30 a.m. instead of 7:30. The lady set her alarm. The following day the telephone woke her. It was the election judge.

“OMG!” the lady repeated on an endless loop of embarrassed gasps. She overslept.

When she arrived home that evening, her alarm rang. She had set the alarm for p.m. instead of a.m.